Farm Seed Priming and Fertilizer Micro‐
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Received: 25 September 2018 | Revised: 25 September 2019 | Accepted: 14 October 2019 DOI: 10.1002/fes3.190 ORIGINAL RESEARCH On‐farm seed priming and fertilizer micro‐dosing: Agronomic and economic responses of maize in semi‐arid Ethiopia Getachew Sime1,2 | Jens B. Aune2 1Department of Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Hawassa University, Hawassa, Abstract Ethiopia On‐farm seed priming has been reported to improve emergence, crop establishment, 2Department of International and yield besides improving economic benefits in dryland agriculture. These ben- Environment and Development Studies efits can further be improved by fertilizer micro‐dosing. The purpose of this study (Noragric), Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Ås, Norway was to investigate the effect of on‐farm seed priming and fertilizer micro‐dosing on the agronomic and economic returns of maize (Zea mays L. var. Melkassa‐2) in Correspondence semi‐arid agro‐ecological conditions in Ethiopia. The experiments consisted of four Getachew Sime, Department of Biology, College of Natural Sciences, Hawassa treatments: no priming and no fertilizer; no priming and fertilizer; priming and no University, Hawassa, Ethiopia. fertilizer; and priming and fertilizer. The experiments were conducted in three loca- Emails: [email protected]; getachew. [email protected] tions viz., Melkassa, Ziway, and Hawassa in the central Rift Valley. Analysis of vari- ance for each location was performed separately at p ˂ .05. Results of each location Funding information were similar over the experimentation years, and hence, there was no need for carry- Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs ing out combined analysis. Regardless of fertilization, primed plants showed faster emergence; better uniform crop stands; more vigorous plants; earlier flowering; ear- lier harvest; and higher grain and stover yield than no primed plants. Germination was 2–3 days earlier, and flowering and maturation of primed plants were 10 to 13 days earlier than no primed plants. Average grain yield increased by 11, 8, and 6% in Melkassa, Ziway, and Hawassa, respectively, by priming over no priming. Fertilizer micro‐dosing combined with priming further improved most of the agro- nomic characters. Fertilizer micro‐dosing combined with priming increased the aver- age grain yield by 75, 69, and 33% in Melkassa, Ziway, and Hawassa, respectively. The economic returns also increased in the same pattern as the agronomic responses for priming, micro‐dosing or their combination. To realize the potential of seed prim- ing of increasing agronomic performances, future research and development efforts should focus on understanding the possible underling physiological and biochemical basis of this poorly understood process with the different priming techniques. KEYWORDS agro‐economic return, dryland agriculture, fertilizer micro‐dosing, rainfall variability, seed priming This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2019 The Authors. Food and Energy Security published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. and the Association of Applied Biologists. Food Energy Secur. 2019;00:e190. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/fes3 | 1 of 13 https://doi.org/10.1002/fes3.190 2 of 13 | SIME AND AUNE 1 | INTRODUCTION There are several priming methods, which have been em- ployed so far. The most commonly used methods are osmo‐ Maize (Zea mays L.) is a cereal crop that is grown widely priming, soaking in a solution of osmoticum (Mahboob et throughout the world in a range of agro‐ecological environ- al., 2015; Rouhi et al., 2011), halo‐priming, soaking in salt ments and is important both to subsistence and commercial solution (Nawaz, Amjad, Pervez, & Afzal, 2011; Tian et farmers (FAO, 2004). In Ethiopia, maize is cultivated in al., 2014), solid matrix priming, priming using solid carri- all major agro‐ecological zones, between elevations of 500 ers (Khan, 1992; Olszewski, Goldsmith, Guthrie, & Young, and 2,600 meters above sea level (Mulatu, Bogale, Tolessa, 2012), and hydro‐priming, soaking in water (Afzal et al., Desalegne, & Afeta, 1992). It plays a central role in food 2002; Ahammad, Rahman, & Ali, 2014; Harris et al., 1999). security, especially in the rural areas of Ethiopia. Per cap- This study used hydro‐priming, which is the most cost ef- ita consumption of maize in rural areas is estimated at about fective and practical method that needs only water to prime 45 kg/year. More than 80% is consumed at the household seeds. Hydro‐priming is a low cost, low risk, and simple level, with commercial marketing largely limited to large‐ practice that can be used by farmers to improve their liveli- scale producers. Although there are large‐scale commer- hood. It involves soaking seed in water (usually overnight), cial farms engaging in maize production, smallholders and surface‐drying, and then sowing the same day. Yet, soaked subsistence farmers represent 95% of its production (FAO, seeds can be managed as nonprimed seeds if they are sur- 2014). Moreover, among the cereals produced by farmers in face‐dried and kept dry, and can be kept for several days and Ethiopia, maize has the largest smallholder coverage with 8 used for sowing. Moreover, farmers can prime their own seed million farmers compared to 5.8 million for teff (Eragrostis once they know the “safe limits” that helps to avoid seed or tef (Zucc.) Trotter) and 4.2 million for wheat. It is a staple and seedling damage (Harris et al., 2001; Murungu et al., 2004). critical crop to smallholder livelihoods, especially to semi‐ Moreover, the consequence of drying seeds after priming is arid farming communities where it is cultivated by over 95% opportunities for farmers to “add value” to their seeds, which of smallholders. Maize is the crop that produces calories at delivers nutrient supplements and increase resistance to pests the lowest cost, providing 1.5 times and twice the calories and diseases (Harris, 2006). per dollar compared to wheat and teff, respectively (CSA, The aim of seed priming is, therefore, to rapidly hydrate 2013). Therefore, increasing the productivity of maize could seed in order to shorten the time to emerge. It advances ger- promote Ethiopia's food production and reduce the national mination by inducing a wide range of biochemical changes food deficit. in seed. It is, thus, associated with faster seed germination, The semi‐arid Africa is dominated by low yield and higher seedling vigor, stand uniformity, earlier flowering rain‐fed farming system. The farming system is charac- and maturation, higher yield, lower risk, and allows farmers terized by slow seed emergence, low vigor of seedlings, a much wider choice of farm management options (Harris, patchy plant stands, and frequent crop failure or yield re- 2006; Harris et al., 1999, 2001; Rashid, Harris, Hollington, duction (Camara, Camara, Berthe, & Oswald, 2013; Harris & Khattak, 2002). Seed prioming has been shown to improve et al., 2001; Sime & Aune, 2019; Sori & Tomer, 2011). germination and establishment, promote earlier flowering, These are common challenges in maize production in the and greater yield in the semi‐arid tropics (Finch‐Savage, Dent, semi‐arid Rift Valley region of Ethiopia (Kassie et al., & Clark, 2004; Harris et al., 1999, 2001; Osman, Abdalla, 2014; Sime & Aune, 2019). The region's maize production Mekki, Elhag, & Aune, 2010). In particular, the benefits is highly variable due to occurrence of frequent dry spells, later in the growth of maize were much greater than might be soil moisture stress, poor soil fertility, and lack of access to expected from emergence 1–3 days earlier (Murungu et al., appropriate maize varieties. Consequently, the agronomic 2004). Although the level varies, priming has been used to and economic benefits from maize are apparently low and increase productivity of maize in Zimbabwe, India, Pakistan, are largely responsible for the low food security in the re- and Bangladesh (Harris et al., 1999, 2001; Murungu et al., gion (Beshir & Wegary, 2014; Biazin & Stroosnijder, 2012; 2004). Kassie et al., 2014). Improvement in water use efficiency In association with seed priming, the other technology for enhanced drought tolerance and improved crop yield that can increase the productivity of maize in the semi‐trop- can be achieved by different agronomic practices like on‐ ics is fertilizer micro‐dosing (Abdalla et al., 2015; Camara farm seed priming (Harris, Joshi, Khan, Gothkar, & Sodhi, et al., 2013; Sime & Aune, 2016). There are few reports on 1999; Harris et al., 2001). In soil moisture stressed condi- the combined effect of seed priming and fertilizer micro‐dos- tions, it is possible that primed seedlings experience less ing on crop production. The key results of these studies, that stress due to faster germination and growth (Murungu et is, increased yield in sorghum and pearl millet in western al., 2004). Thus, seed priming can be used as a strategy to Sudan (Aune & Ousman, 2011), maize in semi‐arid Ethiopia mitigate the impacts of climatic variability and soil mois- (Sime & Aune, 2016), and sorghum and millet in the Sahel ture stress on maize production. (Aune & Bationo, 2008). These studies were conducted SIME AND AUNE | 3 of 13 under conventional tillage (Aune & Bationo, 2008; Aune & increases yields and economic profitability (Camara et al., Ousman, 2011) and minimum tillage (Sime & Aune, 2016). 2013). Such a method of fertilizer application entails a Author's previous work (Sime & Aune, 2016), neverthe- minimal economic risk and can contribute to higher yields less, did not evaluate the separate effect of seed priming and and improve food security and farmers’ income (Aune & fertilizer micro‐dosing in maize, despite that the study was Ousman, 2011; Camara et al., 2013; Sime & Aune, 2014). conducted under minimum tillage system. Further, Sime and For traditional agriculture with low yields and no fertilizer Aune (2014) evaluated only the separate effect of fertilizer input, micro‐dosing could be used as an entry point toward a micro‐dosing in maize, under conventional tillage system.